How DO Tower Cranes Grow

Wherever you are in a city, there are lots of things that always keep visible for you. Among them, tower crane is the most common one. Whenever we raise our eyes on the street, we would see many tower cranes swinging in the sky above the city. They are so high and seemingly so dangerous that you cannot ignore them. They are usually used in the construction of tall buildings. What’s more, their height can grow as the building grows taller. As such a heavy equipment, how are the tower cranes able to grow with the growth of the building? For once a while, this question had bothered me. And if you dear readers were confused with the same question, then reading the post will dispel all your suspicions.

Tower cranes arrive at the construction site on 10 to 12 tractor-trailer rigs. The crew uses a mobile crane to assemble the jib and the machinery section, and places these horizontal members on a 40-foot (12-m) mast that consists of two mast sections. The mobile crane then adds the counterweights.

The mast rises from this firm foundation. The mast is a large, triangulated lattice structure, typically 10 feet (3.2 meters) square. The triangulated structure gives the mast the strength to remain upright.